The humble chickpea certainly packs above its weight in nutrition given its size.
This is a wonderful snack that can be added to any dish to boost your protein and fibre. You can eat it alone as a snack or add it as protein on a texture contrast. You can vary the spicing, think, salt and pepper, sumac, garlic salt, everything bagel. Boil the chickpeas yourself and make hummus or falafels as a compliment.
In the Middle East chickpeas are a stable, having been cultivated for thousands of years. They have them on the table in many forms, allowing them to be integrated into their diets on a consistent basis. These lovely roasted chickpeas allow for you to add them as a topping to anything (think, eggs, beans, salads) you could also consider integrating them in flour form (think savoury chickpea pancakes) purees, soups and stews.
Due to the rich in protein and fibre, they can help satiate and control blood sugar. They are also a good source of manganese, folate, iron, zinc, phosphorous, magnesium, thiamine, vitamin B6, selenium and potassium.
Protein/Fibre content: 25g/20g
Ingredients:
- 1 can x 400g of chickpeas, drained and rinsed or 1.5 cups cooked chickpeas, previously prepared
- 1 tbsp. za’atar
- 1 tbsp. olive oil
- ½ tsp. salt
Method
- Preheat the oven to 400F and line baking tray with parchment paper
- Dry the chickpeas with a kitchen towel. Disregard any skins that come off
- Mix the chickpeas, oil and seasoning and spread on the baking tray
- Bake until crispy, c. 20 minutes.
